Poems And Songs Of Robert Burns Part 96

By Oppression's woes and pains!

By your Sons in servile chains!

We will drain our dearest veins, But they shall be free!

Lay the proud Usurpers low!

Tyrants fall in every foe!

Liberty's in every blow!-- Let us Do or Die!

Behold The Hour, The Boat Arrive

Behold the hour, the boat arrive; Thou goest, the darling of my heart; Sever'd from thee, can I survive, But Fate has will'd and we must part.

I'll often greet the surging swell, Yon distant Isle will often hail: "E'en here I took the last farewell; There, latest mark'd her vanish'd sail."

Along the solitary sh.o.r.e, While flitting sea-fowl round me cry, Across the rolling, das.h.i.+ng roar, I'll westward turn my wistful eye: "Happy thou Indian grove," I'll say, "Where now my Nancy's path may be!

While thro' thy sweets she loves to stray, O tell me, does she muse on me!"

Down The Burn, Davie

As down the burn they took their way, And thro' the flowery dale; His cheek to hers he aft did lay, And love was aye the tale:

With "Mary, when shall we return, Sic pleasure to renew?"

Quoth Mary--"Love, I like the burn, And aye shall follow you."

Thou Hast Left Me Ever, Jamie

Tune--"Fee him, father, fee him."

Thou hast left me ever, Jamie, Thou hast left me ever; Thou has left me ever, Jamie, Thou hast left me ever: Aften hast thou vow'd that Death Only should us sever; Now thou'st left thy la.s.s for aye-- I maun see thee never, Jamie, I'll see thee never.

Thou hast me forsaken, Jamie, Thou hast me forsaken; Thou hast me forsaken, Jamie, Thou hast me forsaken; Thou canst love another jo, While my heart is breaking; Soon my weary een I'll close, Never mair to waken, Jamie, Never mair to waken!

Where Are The Joys I have Met?

Tune--"Saw ye my father."

Where are the joys I have met in the morning, That danc'd to the lark's early song?

Where is the peace that awaited my wand'ring, At evening the wild-woods among?

No more a winding the course of yon river, And marking sweet flowerets so fair, No more I trace the light footsteps of Pleasure, But Sorrow and sad-sighing Care.

Is it that Summer's forsaken our valleys, And grim, surly Winter is near?

No, no, the bees humming round the gay roses Proclaim it the pride of the year.

Fain would I hide what I fear to discover, Yet long, long, too well have I known; All that has caused this wreck in my bosom, Is Jenny, fair Jenny alone.

Time cannot aid me, my griefs are immortal, Nor Hope dare a comfort bestow: Come then, enamour'd and fond of my anguish, Enjoyment I'll seek in my woe.

Deluded Swain, The Pleasure

Tune--"The Collier's Dochter."

Deluded swain, the pleasure The fickle Fair can give thee, Is but a fairy treasure, Thy hopes will soon deceive thee: The billows on the ocean, The breezes idly roaming, The cloud's uncertain motion, They are but types of Woman.

O art thou not asham'd To doat upon a feature?

If Man thou wouldst be nam'd, Despise the silly creature.

Go, find an honest fellow, Good claret set before thee, Hold on till thou art mellow, And then to bed in glory!

Thine Am I, My Faithful Fair

Tune--"The Quaker's Wife."

Thine am I, my faithful Fair, Thine, my lovely Nancy; Ev'ry pulse along my veins, Ev'ry roving fancy.

To thy bosom lay my heart, There to throb and languish; Tho' despair had wrung its core, That would heal its anguish.

Take away those rosy lips, Rich with balmy treasure; Turn away thine eyes of love, Lest I die with pleasure!

What is life when wanting Love?

Night without a morning: Love's the cloudless summer sun, Nature gay adorning.

On Mrs. Riddell's Birthday

4th November 1793.

Old Winter, with his frosty beard, Thus once to Jove his prayer preferred: "What have I done of all the year, To bear this hated doom severe?

My cheerless suns no pleasure know; Night's horrid car drags, dreary slow; My dismal months no joys are crowning, But spleeny English hanging, drowning.